Loom



C. L. HOFF Lobm Filed July 30, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Carlion L. Hoff C. L. HOFF LOOM Filed July so, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2v INVEVNTOR Gqrllon L. Hoff LOOM Filed July 50, 1935 a Shee'ts-Sheec sf INVENTOR Carlton L. Hoff 1/ NEY Patented Oct. 25 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE 14 Claims.

My invention relates to looms'and has for its principal object to provide means for positively and smoothly controlling the operation of the shuttle, thereby reducing wear and breakage of parts and at the same time greatly increasing the speed of operation over standard practice. Other objects are to reduce and simplify the number of operating parts and eliminate the shock and jar heretofore incident to loom mechanisms.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to obviate the use of elliptical and eccentric gearing heretofore controlling the shuttle and batten movements and to operate these parts by means of cams and circular gears which cause their 5 movements to be accomplished positively, yet

without shock or jar.

Another object of the invention is to. provide a direct shuttle driving means that will start, stop and move the shuttle through the shed without shock or jar and always a definite distance without rebound or over-run, thereby preventing breaking of warp and interference with the batten or lay beam by shuttle drops as it swings to beat up the weft. Still another object is to provide a cam drive for the shuttles of looms which" can be located below the lay beam and do away with the overhead harness and mechanism that has heretofore been used to operate the shuttle bars and lay beams of certain types of looms, particularly wire cloth looms.

The above and other objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in this art and from a. reading of the following specification.

My invention is adapted equally to all kinds of single and multiple shuttle type looms, including ribbon or tape looms, woolen and cotton looms, wire cloth looms, carpet looms, and the like. In the drawings, I have shown my invention adapted to both a tape loom and a wire cloth loom but it is equally applicable to other types of weaving machines.

Referring now to the drawings where I have illustrated two adaptations of my invention, Fig. 1 is an end view, partly broken away, of

my invention embodied in a tape weaving loom.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, looking from right to left of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4is a top plan view of the shuttle operating head or driving mechanism.

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken substantially on the lines 5--5 and 8-8 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation, with parts omitted gears 4, 5 in the case of multiple shuttle looms 1o as here illustrated, but will be driven at the same speeds in the case of single shuttle looms. A wheel 6 on the shaft 2 has a crank pin I which is connected by pitman' 8 to the lay head 9 which carrice the lay beam or batten ill. The head 9 is 15 supported on the lay swords or legs ll, l2 which have pivotal connections to the head at their upper ends and to floor brackets l3 at their lower ends, so that they can swing about their lower points of supportas the lay beam performs 20 its beating operations.

The batten l0 carries the shuttles ll, one for each ribbon or tape I5 (Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5) that is being woven, and these shuttles are actuated by the pinions l6 mounted on the batten and en- 5 gaging a rack on the shuttle bar ll. iZhis bar I! swings with the batten but has an independent longitudinal reciprocating movement unit so as to move the shuttles back and forth through the sheds.

The shuttle bar I! is secured to or formed in-.

' tegral with a yoke or head I8 which slides in ways I9, 20 in a guide 2| secured to one end of the batten it. This yoke has a slot 22 engaging a roller 23 carried by a sliding block 2| mounted to slide 5 in the ways 25 formed in a fixed block 26 mounted on a supplementary frame 21 bolted to the main frame I.

The sliding block 24 has a pivoted slide or bearing member 28 fitted in an open ended slot or fork o 29 and forms the upper end of the shuttle bar operating lever 30 which is pivoted at its lower end to a fixed support 3|, and intermediate its ends has a roller or follower 32 engaging in the groove of the shuttle bar operating cam 33. This 45 cam is mounted on the shaft N which is driven at uniform speed from the shaft 3 by means of the bevel gears 35 (Fig. 1).

The cam 33, or the race 38 inthe-cam, maybe of any contour that will impart the desired mo- 50 tion to the shuttle bar l1 and shuttles ll. Preferably, the cam should have two diametrically opposlte dwells of equal duration in which the roller 32 will be engaged and the shuttles at rest during a part of the motion of the lay beam. Interme- 55 diate the dwells, there should be two rises or active sections of the cam proportioned to shift the shuttles through the sheds with gradually accelerated and retarded speeds in properly timed relation to the movements of the lay beam.

Referring to Fig. 2, the roller 32 is approximately mid-way of one rise of the cam 33, and the shuttles i4 are likewise mid-way on their travel through the sheds. The two dwells A--B and. C-D of the cam race 35 subtend equal angles at the center, and when the cam is rotating with the roller 32 in the race from A to B. the lever will be in its.extreme lefthand position, (Figs. 2 and 4) and the shuttles l4 will be at rest at the right of the tapes I5 (Fig. 4). During this period of rest, the batten ll completes its beating action on the previously laid weft thread and completes about one half of its return movement. The heddles haye now operated to open the sheds in the opposite direction, and as the roller 32 starts alongthe race 35 from B to C, the lever 30 is swung to the right (dotted line position Fig. 5)

and the shuttles I4 shifted to the left through the sheds by the time that the roller 32 has reached the point C. From C to D the roller 32, lever 30 and shuttles l4 are at rest and the newly laid weft is beaten into position. From D to A, the shuttles are again shifted to the right and another weft thread laid. The cam race 36 is so proportioned and timed, that the shuttles start their movement just as soon as a suflicient amount can be started and stopped gradually by the cam 33 and be moved with maximum speed midway of their strokes or travel. This also enables me to do away with elliptical or eccentric gears for driving the batten and cam 33 and drive all parts by uniform rotary motion without shock or jar.

In Figs. 1 to 6 just described, I show a multiple shuttle loom and a single shuttle operating mechanism at one end of the batten, but in single shuttle type looms there will be a shuttle bo motion 'at each end of the batten.

Referring now to Figs. 7 to 11, I have shown my invention embodied in a wire cloth loom wherein it finds one of its most efllcient and effective uses, in that I am enabled to replace the noisy, inefficient and cumbersome overhead shuttle operating mechanism commonly used in wire cloth looms, and as exemplified by the patent to Kintzing, 673,839, by a quiet cam operated mechanism located under the frame of the machine. In Fig. 7, the frame of the loom is indicated at 40, 40, and the batten or lay beam 4|, carrying the shuttle bars 42, 43 is mounted to swing on the lay swords 44, 45. At each end the lay beam carries a guide 46, 41, one of which is shown in plan in Fig. 8, and which aresimilar to the guide 2| of Figs. 1 to 6. A yoke 45, 45 is slidably mounted in each of these guides and connected to the re.- spective shuttle bars 42, 43. A slot in each yoke engages over a roller 5|, each rotatably mounted on a sliding block 52, 53 mounted to slide in the respective fixed blocks 54, 55 supported by the supplemental frame members 55, 51. The sliding blocks 52, 53 and rollers 5| are slidably connected to andform the upper ends of shuttle bar operating levers 53, 59 which are pivoted'a't 60, 6! to swing about their lower ends, and carry rollers $2, 63, riding on the double loop cams 64, 55.

The cams 64, are identical in construction but are keyed to their driving shafts-nearly 180 degrees apart. Each cam has a double loop or race, one loop as 65, 61 being shorter or having a shorter throw than the opposite loop 83, 53, so that when the rollers 62, 63, traverse the loops 66, E! the shuttle bars or carriers 42, 43, will have shorter strokes than when the rollers traverse the loops 58, 69. Since the cams are nearly 180 degrees apart, it follows that when the carrier 42 is making its short stroke, the carrier 43 is making its long stroke, and vice versa. The cams 64, 55 are not exactly 180 degrees apart, that is, the high points or crests 66' and 61' of the short loops 6t, 61 are not diametrically opposite the high points or crests 68, 59' of the long loops 58, 69, but are angularly offset, the angle between the crests of the short and long loops on each cam being slightly less than 180 in passing from the long loop to the short, loop, and slightly more than 180 when passing from the short loop to the'long loop. The short loops 66, 61 of the two cams are diametrically opposite in function or timing, i. e., the rollers 52 and 63 reach the high points, 66', G1, 180 apart. With the parts as shown in Fig. 7, the angle between the roller 52 and crest 5B is less than the angle between the roller 63 and the crest 69. This causes the shuttle bar that is making its short stroke (i.e. bar 42) to reach its innermost position and start on its outer or receding stroke before the bar making the long stroke and carrying the shuttle (i. e. bar 43) reaches its innermost position. .There is thus a short interval when the bars are moving in the same direction near the center, and the shuttle is passed from one to the other at this time. This results in a very'smooth action that can be accomplished at much higher speeds than it has been possible to attain heretofore. The bar that carries the shuttle out receives it while it is moving outward and is short of the center, so that it has a shorter distance to carry the shuttle than it would have if the transfer were effected mid-way. The outer stroke of the shuttle carrying arm is one of the chief factors limiting thespeed of the loom. By the present invention, 1 shorten both the length and time of this outer stroke and hence correspondingly increase the speed of the loom over that which would be possible if the transfer were made at the center.

Referring to Fig. 7, a conventional form of shuttle 70 is being carried by the bar 43, it being held by the usual latch (not shown) which is controlled by the trigger H. The bar 42 likewise has a trigger l2 controlling the release of the shuttle from it. The lay beam 4| carries a pair of cams or stops 13, 14 which cooperate to actuatethe respective triggers ll, 12 at or near the inner ends of the long strokes of the respective bars 43, 42.

Referring now to Figs. 7, 9, 10 and 11, the line A indicates the mid-point of the loom or shuttle travel. In Fig. 'l, the bars 42 and 43 are both moving toward the center, the bar 43 being on its long stroke carrying the shuttle and the bar 42 being on its short stroke. On these strokes, the trigger 12 will not reach the stop 14, but the trigger II will strike the stop 13 to release the shuttle lilfrom bar 43 at or near the inner end of its travel. It will be noted that the roller 62 is angularly much nearer to the apex of the cam loop 66 than is the roller 63 to the apex of its cam loop 63, so that the bar 42 will reach its innermost position 42" before the bar 43 reaches the end of its stroke.

In Fig. 9, the parts are advanced slightly further than in Fig. '7. The bar 42 has reached the inner end of its stroke and the bar 43 has advanced until it is ready to pass the shuttle to bar 42. The trigger H has contacted stop 13, but the shuttle has not yet been released.

In Fig. 10, the parts are still further advanced.

, the bar 42 havingstarted its outward stroke and been followed up by the bar '43 which has now completed its in-stroke and the trigger "II has been actuated to release the shuttle to the bar 42.

In Fig. 11, the bar 42 continues its outstroke carrying the shuttle, and the bar 43 has started its return or outstroke.

The above operations take place during onehalf rotation of the cams 64, 85, being controlled by the respective loops 66, 69. During the next half revolution, the loops 6!, 81, will control the strokes of the shuttle bars, and the bar 42 will carry the shuttle ll in on its long stroke and pass it to the bar 43, now on its short stroke. when the bar 42 makes its long stroke, the trigger 12 'will strike the stop 14 to release the shuttle which it did not do on its short stroke. Thus the shuttle bars 42, 43 alternatively have long strokes and short strokes, the bar carrying the shuttle toward the center of the lay beam traveling past the,center. and the bar, that comes in empty but receives the shuttle and carries it out, ending its stroke short of the center and starting its outstroke before completion of the instroke of the shuttle carrying bar. In the loom shown in Fig. 7, the gear ratio between the lay beam 4| and cams 64, 65 is l to 1, that is, the cams make one revolution for each complete oscillation of the lay beam or batten, which preferably is driven by a crank and pitman similar to the crank I and pitman 8 of Fig. 1, and the cams 64, 65, likewise may be driven similarly to the cam 33,- or by any other suitable driving means.

It will thus be seen that not only will a loom embodying my invention operate much smoother and faster than heretofore, but also the construction and-operation is much simplified and made more durable and reliable.

While I.have shown and described specific embodiments of my invention and stated certain objects thereof, it will be understood that these are but illustrative of the invention, its objects and advantages, andthat other modifications, variations, uses and advantages will be suggested hereby to others skilled in this art, will claim as my invention all such that may come within the .scope or intent of the following claims, and all equivalents thereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a loom. the combination of a batten carried by supports pivoted to swing in vertical planes, a shuttle bar siidable on said batten, a lever pivoted to swing only in a plane at right angles to said pivoted supports of the batten, a cam for swinging said lever in timed relation to batten movements, a yoke rigidly connected to said shuttle bar and having a transverse slot, and means carried by the upper end of said lever engaging in said slot, whereby simultaneous swinging movements of said and lever will slide the shuttle bar longitudinally on the swinging batten.

2. In a loom the combination of a batten, a shuttle; bar carried by the batten and movable therewith, means moving in aplane transverse to the plane-of movement of the batten for. shiftinz the shuttle bar on the batten, :and a transversely slotted yoke connectedtoithezshuttie bar, the upper end of said shitting means engaging in the slot of said yoke whereby the shuttle bar will have simultaneous movement in two planes.

3. In a loom, the combination of a batten, a shuttle bar movable with the batten and adapted to move longitudinally thereaiong, a yoke attached to one end of the shuttle bar and having a transverse slot therein, operating means engaging in said slot, and means for moving said slot engaging means transversely of the movement of the batten to shift said yoke and shuttle bar in timed relation to the batten.

4. In a loom, the combination of a pivotedbatten, a shuttle bar carried thereby, a guide on said batten, a yoke on said shuttle bar siidable in said guide, a fixed block having a transverse guideway adjacent said yoke, a slide in said guide-way having means engaging in said yoke, and means for moving said slide to shift said yoke in said batten guide and move the shuttle bar in timed relation to batten movement.

5. In a loom, the combination of a pivoted batten, a shuttle bar carried thereby, a guide on said batten, a yoke having a transverse slot siidable in said guide and connected to said shuttle bar, a fixed block having a guide-way at right angles to said slot, a lever pivoted at its lower end and having means at its upper end movable in said guide-way and engaging in said transverse slot, and means to oscillate said lever in timed relation to batten movement.

6. In a loom, the combination of a frame member, a fixed block mounted thereon and having a guide-way, a biocksliding in said guide-way and having an upwardly extending roller, a batten having a guide fixed to one end thereof and movable above said fixed block, a shuttle bar carried by the batten having a yoke sliding in said guide, said yoke engaging said roller, and means to recipi'ocate said sliding block in timed relation to movements of the batten.

7. In a loom, the combination of a frame member, a fixed block mounted thereon and having a guide-way, a lever pivoted to swing its upper end in said guide-way, a batten pivoted to swing transversely of said guide-way and having a guide at one end and overlying said fixed block, a shuttle bar carried by the batten and havingan extension sliding in said guide, means providing an operative connection between said extension and the upper end of said pivoted lever, and means for driving said lever and batten in timed relation.

8. In a loom, a batten mounted to swing on pivotal supports, a crank driven at uniform speed connected by a pitman to said batten to swing it on its supports, a shuttle bar siidable on said batten transverse to its swinging movement, a cam driven from said crank driving. means at uniform speed, said cam rotating' 'in .a plane at right angles to batten movement and below said batten, a lever pivoted to swing at right angles to batten movement and having afollower engaging said cam, a horizontal guide fixed to one end of said batten and swinging therewith, a. yoke with a transverse slot connected to saidshuttle bar and siidable in said batten guide, a fixed guide having a slot perpendicular to said yoke slot, the upper end of said pivoted lever swinging in the slot in the fixed guide and having means engag- .'ing in the slot in said yoke.

9. In a loom, a pivoted batten, shuttle bars carried by the opposite ends thereof and movable toward and from its mid-point, a guide secured to each end of the batten, a yoke having a transverse slot siidable in each guide and connected to the respective shuttle bars, a block fixed adjacent each yoke and having a guide-way at right angles to the slot in the yoke, a pair of levers pivoted at their lower ends and having means at their upper ends slidable one in each of said guide-ways and engaging one in each yoke-slot, said levers being mounted to swing in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of the batten and below the batten, a pair of cams rotating in a plane parallel to the levers, and followers on the levers engaging the cams, whereby rotation of the cams will oscillate the levers and reciprocate the shuttle bars on the batten.

10. In a loom, a pivoted batten, shuttle bars carried by the opposite ends thereof and movable toward and from its mid-point, a guide secured to each end of the batten, a yoke having a transverse slot slidable in each guide and connected to the respective shuttle bars, a block fixed adjacent each ypke and having a guide-way at right angles to the slot in the yoke, a pair of levers pivoted at their lower ends and having means at their upper ends slidable one in each of said guide-ways and engaging one in each yoke slot, said levers being mounted to swing in a plane at right angles to the plane of movement of the batten and below the batten, a pair of cams rotating in a plane parallel to the levers, and followers on the levers engaging the cams, whereby rotation of the cams will oscillate the levers and reciprocate the shuttle bars on the batten, each of said cams having a double race of unequal throws engaged by said followers, the short throw of each cam being a short angular distance ahead of the long throw of the other cam, whereby the reciprocations of the shuttle bars will be unequal and the short inward stroke of each bar will be completed prior to the completion of the long inward stroke of the other bar.

11. In a loom, the combination of a pivoted batten, a shuttle bar carried thereby, a guide on said batten, a yoke on said shuttle bar slidable in said guide, a fixed block having a guide-way adjacent said yoke and transverse thereto, a slide in said guide-way having means engaging in said yoke, and means for moving said slide to shift said yoke in said batten guide and move the shuttle bar in timed relation to batten movement, said means comprising a cam having a race with unequal throws and a follower operating in said race whereby the shuttle bar will have alternately long and short strokes.

12. In a loom, a swinging batten, shuttle bars carried by the opposite ends thereof and movable toward and from its mid-point, a cam for moving each of said bars on its inner and outer strokes, that part of each cam that moves its associated bar inward on its empty stroke being constructed to stop the bar short of the mid-point, that part of each cam that moves its associated bar inward on its shuttle-carrying stroke being constructed to move the bar and shuttle beyond the mid-point, said cams being angularly arranged so that the bar making its empty in-stroke completes its in-stroke and starts on its outstroke before the shuttle-carrying bar completes its in-stroke, and means to transfer the shuttle from one bar to the other while both are moving in the same direction.

13. In a loom, a swinging batten, shuttle bars carried by the opposite ends thereof and movable toward and fromits mid-point, a multiple rise cam having its high and low crests connected to move one of said bars on strokes which alternately pass and stop short of the mid-point, a second multiple rise cam having its low and high crests connected to move the other bar on strokes which alternately stop short of and pass the mid-point, the low crest of each cam being angularly in advance of the high crest of the other cam, whereby the bar being controlled by the low crest will have completed its in-stroke and started its out-stroke before. the bar controlled by the high crest reaches its innermost position, the angular relation being such that the two bars will move in the same direction for a short interval, the bar moving inward past the mid-point carrying a shuttle, and means for transferring the shuttle to the other (bar while the two bars are moving in the same direction.

14. In a loom, a swinging batten, shuttle bars carried by the opposite ends thereof and movable toward and from its mid-point, a pair of double rise cams each having high and low crests, means connecting each of said cams to one of said shuttle bars to reciprocate the bars in and out along the batten, the inward stroke of each bar when carrying the shuttle being controlled by the high crest of its cam so that it travels beyond the midpoint and its inner stroke when empty being controlled by the low crest of the cam so that it stops before reaching mid-point, the low crest of each cam being angularly in advance of the high crest of the other cam so that the inward empty strokes of the bars are completed prior to completion of the inward shuttle-carrying strokes, the similar crests of the two cams being 180 apart in function so that the shuttle bars alternate in their different strokes, and means for transferring the shuttle to the empty. bar after it has started its outward stroke.

CARLTON L. HOFF. 

